The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has said that Nigeria is taking decisive steps to safeguard its digital future by strengthening cybersecurity, enhancing infrastructure, and building human capacity to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Inuwa stated this while delivering a keynote address titled “Securing the Digital Economy: Strengthening Infrastructure and Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence” at the Cyber Nigeria Summit, organised by the Cybersecurity Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN).

He described the digital economy as the heartbeat of Nigeria’s development agenda, noting that while ICT currently contributes about 17 percent to the country’s GDP, digital technologies now influence nearly every sector of the economy.

According to him, the service sector alone accounts for about 58 percent of national output, demonstrating the deep integration of digital tools into everyday life.

Inuwa cautioned that the rise of AI has transformed the dynamics of cybersecurity. While AI drives productivity and innovation, it also provides cybercriminals with advanced tools to launch more precise and large-scale attacks.

“Cybercrime now costs the world over 10 trillion dollars annually, making it the most lucrative form of crime globally. The World Economic Forum ranks cybersecurity among the top five global threats, showing that our strategies must evolve beyond physical protection,” he said.

The NITDA boss stressed that securing Nigeria’s digital economy must begin with designing infrastructure that prioritises security from the foundation.

He noted that digital infrastructure now extends beyond servers and networks to include utilities, telecommunications, and even autonomous vehicles.